India seek to build on T20 boost

One-off or two-match Twenty20 series are usually lacking in context, and that's even more the case on this England tour which is taking place a couple of months after the premier, global T20 tournament has ended. But, for a side beaten in a home Test series for the first time in eight years, the positives have been few, and the limited-overs games offer an opportunity to push for more. There were encouraging signs for India in Pune; they fielded with intensity and Yuvraj Singh returned to his match-winning ways.

Described as a side in transition in Tests, India looked much more at home in the shorter format as opposed to England, under a stand-in captain and a new-look team. Alex Hales stood out for England with his display of clean striking at the top of the order - he's one of three Nottinghamshire players from the first T20, each of whom have been told by their county that they will not be allowed to the play in the IPL next season.

Form guide

(Most recent first)India: WWWLWEngland LLWLL

In the spotlight

Ajinkya Rahane has been made to wait for a Test debut but has been impressive in the shorter formats. He pulled off a couple of cleanly-struck straight sixes in the first game and looked good for more before he mistimed one to mid-on. Often talked up as a future member of the Indian Test top order, Rahane's opportunities in the international arena have been very limited, just four so far this year.

Samit Patel has had more chances but hasn't had the best of years. He lost his place in the Test XI this series, though chipped in with a quick 24 in the first T20 international in Pune. He's got another T20 game to finish 2012 on a brighter note.

Team news

Jonny Bairstow has left the squad and flown back to England for "family reasons". Jade Dernbach was expensive in his three-over spell in Pune and England could consider giving Middlesex seamer James Harris a go in his place.

India's win over England in Pune was their second-best against a non-'minnow' team in terms of balls to spare; they had won with 15 balls to spare against Pakistan in the World Twenty20.

Yuvraj Singh's effort was the 16th instance of a player scoring 30 or more and picking up three or more wickets in the same game. He's done it twice.

Quotes

"I felt each and every bowler, apart from Yuvraj, bowled at least one bad over in the game. But I'm overall very happy with the performance."MS Dhoni on India's win

"We got off to a great start. Alex Hales played tremendously well along with Luke Wright but in that middle period we failed to kick on and score. That positivity wasn't there in our batting and we lacked about 15 or 20." England captain Eoin Morgan

@Bruisers on (December 22 2012, 11:51 AM GMT), the fact that KP is being rested means that this is not England's best T20 side but, that said, it's certainly not the second XI some would have us believe. There are some good exciting young players in there and they can make an impact. The bowling needs to tighten up though. Dernbach has eased up on the variations a bit but he needs to get his line and length right. Bresnan was also far from menacing and I'm not sure about Briggs as a limited-overs bowler. Would have thought that Kerrigan would get the job in preference but it looks like they'll be bowling Patel in game 2.

jmcilhinney
on December 22, 2012, 12:57 GMT

@satyatalwar on (December 22 2012, 12:17 PM GMT), England prioritise Test cricket because it is the proper cricket. Despite the story that some England fans try to tell, limited-overs cricket is important to England, but certainly not as important as Test cricket. As for players, the vast majority prefer Test cricket because it's a true Test of their skills, both physically and mentally. Many still enjoy limited-overs cricket and certainly appreciate the money on offer in T20 but, for the game itself, most would choose Test cricket as their preferred format.

on December 22, 2012, 12:53 GMT

I would like to say that England should do well this time as the team is led by Eoin Morgan and there is no Stuart Broad. All the best to this team to perform well.

GRVJPR
on December 22, 2012, 12:53 GMT

@AbhishekSingh It's not India's fault that england is players short. Indis is also missing pathan, sachin, ganguly, dravid, laxman, zaheer, harbhajan, yusuf pathan etc etc. Problem with england is that they can't hire T-20 players from south africa like in test matches

on December 22, 2012, 12:42 GMT

@Bruisers... LOL.. kidding ??.. what difference can one bowler make ??.. didn't yuvraj make a difference last time.. Where is KP ??.. If zaheer can play so does Jimmy Anderson :P.. England are playing their B team here.. Giving opportunities to youngsters.. They don't even care about this .. England team is currently Celebrating Christmas Back home and We Indians are struggling for Pride and some Consolation after a Humiliating Defeat at home

on December 22, 2012, 12:41 GMT

come on india we want to see top in t20 tables..

on December 22, 2012, 12:37 GMT

I agree. This bowling attack of England looks to be in shambles.

satyatalwar
on December 22, 2012, 12:17 GMT

I see a lot of English fans comment that the shorter format is not important to the ECB or the English players. Its simply a case of sour grapes! Even a kid knows that the shorter format - 20 and 50 overs both, is the format that is more popular the world over, draws more crowds, money and this is important - attention from the players themselves. The inverted logic of these fans is -the format that is important is the one in which we are good at! LoL! In any engagement a win is win a loss is a loss. Period!

on December 22, 2012, 13:10 GMT

go INDIA go..!!! RAHANE will get a 50 2day..;) !!!!!!

on December 22, 2012, 13:08 GMT

i thing that to day match hero is youraj singh

jmcilhinney
on December 22, 2012, 13:00 GMT

@Bruisers on (December 22 2012, 11:51 AM GMT), the fact that KP is being rested means that this is not England's best T20 side but, that said, it's certainly not the second XI some would have us believe. There are some good exciting young players in there and they can make an impact. The bowling needs to tighten up though. Dernbach has eased up on the variations a bit but he needs to get his line and length right. Bresnan was also far from menacing and I'm not sure about Briggs as a limited-overs bowler. Would have thought that Kerrigan would get the job in preference but it looks like they'll be bowling Patel in game 2.

jmcilhinney
on December 22, 2012, 12:57 GMT

@satyatalwar on (December 22 2012, 12:17 PM GMT), England prioritise Test cricket because it is the proper cricket. Despite the story that some England fans try to tell, limited-overs cricket is important to England, but certainly not as important as Test cricket. As for players, the vast majority prefer Test cricket because it's a true Test of their skills, both physically and mentally. Many still enjoy limited-overs cricket and certainly appreciate the money on offer in T20 but, for the game itself, most would choose Test cricket as their preferred format.

on December 22, 2012, 12:53 GMT

I would like to say that England should do well this time as the team is led by Eoin Morgan and there is no Stuart Broad. All the best to this team to perform well.

GRVJPR
on December 22, 2012, 12:53 GMT

@AbhishekSingh It's not India's fault that england is players short. Indis is also missing pathan, sachin, ganguly, dravid, laxman, zaheer, harbhajan, yusuf pathan etc etc. Problem with england is that they can't hire T-20 players from south africa like in test matches

on December 22, 2012, 12:42 GMT

@Bruisers... LOL.. kidding ??.. what difference can one bowler make ??.. didn't yuvraj make a difference last time.. Where is KP ??.. If zaheer can play so does Jimmy Anderson :P.. England are playing their B team here.. Giving opportunities to youngsters.. They don't even care about this .. England team is currently Celebrating Christmas Back home and We Indians are struggling for Pride and some Consolation after a Humiliating Defeat at home

on December 22, 2012, 12:41 GMT

come on india we want to see top in t20 tables..

on December 22, 2012, 12:37 GMT

I agree. This bowling attack of England looks to be in shambles.

satyatalwar
on December 22, 2012, 12:17 GMT

I see a lot of English fans comment that the shorter format is not important to the ECB or the English players. Its simply a case of sour grapes! Even a kid knows that the shorter format - 20 and 50 overs both, is the format that is more popular the world over, draws more crowds, money and this is important - attention from the players themselves. The inverted logic of these fans is -the format that is important is the one in which we are good at! LoL! In any engagement a win is win a loss is a loss. Period!

on December 22, 2012, 12:05 GMT

just one t20 victory and see the height of optimistic comments from my Indian fans ,even its not against the best 11 of England, they are 5 players short at-least.

Munkeymomo
on December 22, 2012, 11:52 GMT

Would love to see Harris make his debut today! Dernbach was a bit all over the place the other day. Harris can swing a blade a bit too. Hopefully Root gets a go too. Also Jos should bat above Patel.

Bruisers
on December 22, 2012, 11:51 GMT

@Hammond - So if you were the selector, who would you pick? Cook, Trott, Bell and co? I know Swann is a good bowler but what difference can one bowler make? India are also not playing Sehwag, Zaheer etc.. The fact is, this is the best T20 side that England can form as of now. And why would selectors pick T20 performers in the Test side? o.O These players are playing to catch the eye of IPL franchises and not of the English Test selectors LOL.

nideesh
on December 22, 2012, 11:32 GMT

Should be an easy win for india

NIKHILJOHRY
on December 22, 2012, 11:14 GMT

India without doubt is the better limited overs side but england have proved that they are the better test side.check out my blog on why I think like this
http://nikhiljohry.blogspot.in/

on December 22, 2012, 10:53 GMT

a must win for india ....

sreebandi123
on December 22, 2012, 10:13 GMT

I think India is getting their confidence back slowly. If these players are back on the track then its very difficult to beat them in T20 / ODI. The team selection should decent.

jimbond
on December 22, 2012, 10:04 GMT

What is the point in having these two meaningless T20s after a tiring test series. Indian selectors didnt even have the presence of mind to blood new players. Whoever wins, who cares?

on December 22, 2012, 8:48 GMT

As we pretty much all agree that England, rather than caring too much about their results during this T20 series, are intent on trying out some of their youngsters, it's now time to bring in James Harris for the one-man disaster zone known as Jade Dernbach, while giving the highly adaptable young Joe Root a go as Hales's opening partner.

While I'm not *entirely* convinced that using bilateral T20 series predominantly as a testing ground for future Test & ODI players - particularly bowlers - is the best way to go, if it means we can slim down our squad for the next T20 World Cup by gradually whittling down the number of Possibles, it'll have been worth the sacrifice of losing a few games here & there. Hopefully we've now seen the last of both Dernbach & Lumb (great on pacy pitches in his pomp, but far too fallible against spin, & therefore totally unsuited for Bangladesh in 2014). Great start for Buttler as a keeper/batsman, though: let's hope he's there for good now.

@t.feroze on (December 22 2012, 07:41 AM GMT), I think that it's a bit unfair to blame Patel. He and Buttler both were a bit hampered by the fact that England lost Wright, Hales and Morgan in fairly quick succession, so they had to bat carefully against what was fairly tight bowling at the time. I do agree that Patel is less attractive if he's not bowling but surely Lumb scoring 1 off 10 is more of a concern than Patel scoring 24 off 22.

jmcilhinney
on December 22, 2012, 8:27 GMT

@Jose Puliampatta on (December 22 2012, 07:11 AM GMT), I think that including Kumble and Ganguly in that list is pushing it a bit much. They both left the Test arena over four years ago. If you can't find replacements for players in four years it's not because the youngsters don't have enough experience. It's because you don't have any replacements.

Hammond
on December 22, 2012, 8:27 GMT

@BeatTheChamps- these limited over games mean nothing to the ECB. That is why you probably don't recognise over half the England side, and all of those players are just playing these matches so they can catch the eye of the England test selectors. Enjoy the worthless England selection carnival!

BeatTheChamps
on December 22, 2012, 7:56 GMT

Some England fans pretending how this series means nothing to them and blah blah. Agreed that the test matches are far more important but these are international matches too and played with the same passion. England do have some catching up to do!

on December 22, 2012, 7:47 GMT

By wining today's T 20 match india can curtail the humiliation of massive losses in england ,australia and in india,lol

I think england lost because of Samit Patel's slow inning,how can someone say he chipped in with a quick 24. he did,nt ball a ball in the match, i think he was clearly disturbing the balance of the test team and now the t20 team. he is not in the spot light, i think he will not be in the england team today..... and if he is selected it will be a mistake...... he should be told to stay in the gym for a year at the least......

on December 22, 2012, 7:29 GMT

Both Rahane and Pujara are good Test class batsmen. It is a shame, both want to prove to the selectors that they are good batsmen for the shorter formats. Badri tried and failed. Earlier Jaffer tried and failed. Tiwari may go the same way. All these guys , who could have been the core of batting for test matches, fell between the two stools. In batting, at least we have a few to work on. For bowling, the shelf is almost empty. Some one with authority should be identified and ear-marked to nurture / mentor / develop a good Test Team. Earlier we start , the better. In fact, we are already terribly late!

on December 22, 2012, 7:19 GMT

Jadeja is a better raw material for a Test Match side. He is not that strong hitter. Even the sixes he manged is only through timing. Makes runs through placements & quick running. Patient, if circumstances demand. Provide a second line of attack in bowling -- to try for breaking partnerships. With impending exit of Sehwag, lack of availability of Yuvi for tests, it is going to be important. And, can field inside the circle or in the deep. In the deep. his ability to be a good sweeper fielder who can chase balls on either side with equal vigour offsets, his not so strong arms!

on December 22, 2012, 7:11 GMT

@Siddhartha Talya. You wrote: "Described as a side in transition in Tests,..."

It is not just 'described as'! It IS! India lost /will be losing soon: 1. Kumble 2. Ganguly 3. Dravid 4. VVS 5. Bhajji 6. Zak 7. Sachin 8. Sehwag. We have to find adequate replacements for all these EIGHT! Not so easy!

on December 22, 2012, 6:54 GMT

I hope India will win the T20 series against Englad, becoz they dont have quality bowler like Anderson and Panaser.It is very difficulty to win in India against India.

on December 22, 2012, 6:48 GMT

@ Hammond on (December 22 2012, 06:19 AM GMT). You wrote"
"Let's hope India do win, it will do the fans good. I'll be watching whatever is on the other 90 channels."

Sehwag is supposed to have manged his batting career mainly through hands-eye- coordination! You will beat Sehwag. Your hands (on the remote) and eye (on the screen) coordination must be superhuman to watch what is going on in 90 channels! (wow), while today's Eng-Ind T-20 goes on.

on December 22, 2012, 6:47 GMT

India is really dominating country of the limited over cricket.They are doing well but against Pakistan how they perform,it can be depend on Jubi and Birat Kohli.I think they will win against Pakistan of both format cricket.

Hammond
on December 22, 2012, 6:19 GMT

Let's hope India do win, it will do the fans good. I'll be watching whatever is on the other 90 channels.

mylife4cricket
on December 22, 2012, 5:44 GMT

This is the best chance for India to become no:1 in T20s atleast as England are experimenting their youngsters this series and also against Pakistan( India have a good record in T20s).And i really want India to finish this year on a high as Australians are also coming....

cricket9lover
on December 22, 2012, 5:43 GMT

what about pankaj singh he must be given chance in shorter format at least

on December 22, 2012, 4:40 GMT

at my consideration england is playing one bowler extra...they can make samit,luke.michael to bowl...

on December 22, 2012, 4:22 GMT

where is praveen,varun.....?

on December 22, 2012, 3:16 GMT

u would expect to india win looking at england team with out kp,swan,finn

Snick_To_Backward_Point
on December 22, 2012, 2:49 GMT

Another day, another pointless T20, Well, I guess it gives some of the Eng B team a bit of international experience even if it is a lowest skilled form of the game.

jmcilhinney
on December 22, 2012, 1:24 GMT

T20 is always the most open of the three formats but India would have to go in as string favourites, as they would have before the first game. I think that the most important thing for England is to tighten up their bowling. Most bowlers are going to go for a reasonable number of runs in T20s but all those wides England bowled were crippling. I do wonder about the wisdom of playing Briggs too, who has very little limited-overs experience. He's the only specialist spinner other than Tredwell in the squad though, so he has to be in the team. As for the batting, India got contributions from everyone while Lumb and Morgan failed for England, so those two will be under the spotlight. Morgan falling cheaply after England had lost Wright and Hales was a major reason that Patel and Buttler had to bat carefully, and therefore scored slowly, through the mid-to-late section of the innings and Lumb needs to support Hales at the top.

Punjami
on December 22, 2012, 1:20 GMT

Part-timers cannot win matches always. One good or bad over can trun tables. It is better that the frontline bowlers deliver. Team India try your bench strength - bring in Bhuvanesh for Chawla. Give Awana another chance or select him for 50 overs game. Don;t shatter him with one chance.

Out_Swinger
on December 22, 2012, 0:49 GMT

India will continue to dominate in the limited overs format of the game. Like India, England too is very inconsistant in its performance. India has been consistantly inconsistant of late thought. Aus will chew England in the next Ashes like what Pakistan did a little earlier.

on December 22, 2012, 0:33 GMT

Please drop Jadeja and give Rayudu a debut!

cricraz
on December 21, 2012, 23:34 GMT

India were humiliated in the Test series but India are still a better T20 and ODI side than England. It is India's Obssession with T20 that has led to its precipitious fall in Test cricket. If India continue their disgraceful performance in Tests, I am sure India will discourage Test cricket and the world will follow. I am sure there are some hardcore fans that will disagree but the paying public want a shorter version of cricket and is more likely to attract world attention as compared to Test cricket which will remain with the 8 test playing countries( bangladesh has struggled to compete in Test cricket but is a force to be reckoned in T20). BCCI recognized the golden goose is T20 but since India acheived NO 1 ranking briefly in Test cricket, they wanted to encourage and boost it. It is unlikely that India will continue to promote Test cricket if their team continues its downward spiral!!

BravoBravo
on December 21, 2012, 22:50 GMT

"India seek to build on T20 boost"- Oh Yes. IND needs to invite NZ and ZIM to buildup a bit of more confidence and lot of hype.

HouseMD
on December 21, 2012, 22:42 GMT

T20 will stay and its final solution . I like the IPL idea, now BPL and BBL are also getting popular.

Nampally
on December 21, 2012, 22:37 GMT

I hope India does not do like they did in the Test series - Winning the first Mtach & then giving away the rest. This is where intensity comes into play & ability to finish a series in winning style. The team should maintian its intensity & will to win & finish on a winning note. To start with Indian batting is badly exposed. Why does Dhoni keep making the same mistake by having 5 specialist bowlers when Yuvraj is better than the specialist bowlers. Clearly Awana failed as did Chawla. One of them has to make way for Rohit Sharma. Dhoni got away in the last match with too many bowlers who were not even used. I gave Kohli one over with 6 bowlers in the line up -Why? Awana & Dhoni gave 28 runs between them in 3 overs. If you keep repeating your errors & expect to get away with it, insanity creeps in. Rohit is also a fine fielder. If Dhoni plays 5 specialist bowlers + an all rounder, batting is vulnerable. Replace a bowler with batsman.Indian bowling is Yuvi & Jadeja who do the job.

sXs81
on December 21, 2012, 21:53 GMT

Its funny some english fans like Jeppo eg are saying , they wont be watching it, bocoz eng dont care about this t20s.. even if those rested players come in, its not going to make much difference... in test india is going to transition i agree, but not in t20 or odi... so dont think ODI is going to be easy either.. remeber after rainwashed ODI series in england last year they came to india and were not able to win a single ODI, but managed to win just one t20.... India has to find a balanced team in Test yet , its like the former no:1 Aussie team when they lost all those senoir players. see still they havent found a balanced team.. Even eng with their full team struggled against SA at home lost no:1 spot where they hailed for that much long lol...

simon_w
on December 21, 2012, 21:34 GMT

I'm not bothered much at all about the result of these T20i matches, but I will watch, because it's great to get the opportunity to see how the young players, who will hopefully be the future of the England side, will perform. Hales, Buttler, Meaker, Briggs, Harris -- they all have a chance of getting into the full side someday.

on December 21, 2012, 21:06 GMT

India are closing the gap on Lanka's no 1 ICC t20 ranking. Except few Lankan fans with anti India comments after tommorows game:)

BustIPL
on December 21, 2012, 20:51 GMT

Looked at meaker, Indian team was lucky to miss him in the final test otherwise it would definitly be 3-1 and we all know that 1 is due to off the field tactics. Kohli was made to look a kid by meaker.

BustIPL
on December 21, 2012, 20:49 GMT

Like the test series english have many combinations available to play limited overs formats. Yuvraj was able to distrub the pace of england and luckily it caused indian win. Ashwin failed in limited overs as well. Much talked about Awana was ordinary.Cahwla/Jadeja flourished while england lost wickets to yuvraj. With this bowling lineup indian batting has to be ready to score in access of 160 runs on any day. Lets see the next match england should win for their fans.

on December 21, 2012, 20:21 GMT

funny comments from english supporters. england did outplay india and humiliated them in there own backyard. there is no denying that. but the humiliation you got after getting to number 1 was even better. not winning and single series, lol and then you lost the ranking in your own house. your lucky that cook is in your team, plus this is the real english team just missing cook and prior. res are all south africans anyways. test match victories are a lot more satisfying but that doesnt mean that when india humiliates england in limited overs it wont be fun. i will have a great time. ECB is way more selfish than any other board, 1 million dollar T20 game remember that?? pieterson dropped and called back after they saw what there players were doing against spin in SL T20WC. Its sad that you need to surrender so you can allow an outside player to rescue you. well done.

hhillbumper
on December 21, 2012, 18:51 GMT

lets see what happens.You have to give credit to india though as it often felt like they could only bat for 20 0vers

on December 21, 2012, 18:33 GMT

i think india will continue its domination in 2nd t20.....from now it will not be easy for england in india. england has to perform a lot better to compete with india's t20 and oneday team.

Jeppo
on December 21, 2012, 18:30 GMT

India will probably win again but that's because England don't really care about this T20 series, as showcased by the fact that they are resting so many of their players. T20 isn't, and never will be, a form of cricket that showcases a team's class over the other. That accolade goes to the Tests and ODIs.

In a nutshell, this game and the game previous is a glorified cash cow. I won't be watching it.

cjscanada
on December 21, 2012, 18:21 GMT

Someone mentioned that T20 is a game of luck and less skills, I do not agree with the skills though, you constantly need to improvise but yes you have no time to regroup and there is no sustained period of pressure. You can get away with a wayward shot or two to relieve the pressure in T20 but Tests, tests your character of perseverance. Unfortunately in 3 to 5 years from now, I feel we will see a lot more T20 and I attribute that too the time factor unless there is some changes in the longer format,

SDHM
on December 21, 2012, 18:12 GMT

Harris has to come in for Dernbach for me - Girl's Name has been looking worse & worse with every game he's played of late. T20 isn't really Harris' game, but he's a really promising young bowler & he'd add a bit of batting depth to boot. If England are really looking forward to the next WT20 then Root should come in for Lumb too, but it'd be harsh to drop a player on the basis of one poor game.

praneethtz
on December 21, 2012, 18:01 GMT

India is a far better limited overs squard and they will do well in this format

on December 21, 2012, 17:28 GMT

yes india's bowling department is lack of confidence and their loss. they should improve their bowling skills to achieve in coming t20 and ODI series

on December 21, 2012, 17:15 GMT

"....In the middle period we failed to kick on and score.." because you have left out guys like KP who kick on and score

QingdaoXI
on December 21, 2012, 17:14 GMT

India should Drop Gambhir and Jadeja and play Rayudu and Rohit. Rayudu can open in t-20. Team Rahane, Rayudu, Kohli, Yuvraj, Rohit, Raina, Dhoni, Ashwin, Chawla (Will be playing as he is the only leg-spinner in the squad otherwise Rahul Sharma is better than him or play Jadeja in his place), Dinda and Awana (He deserves 3-4 chances, as he is having great run in domestic matches).

grizzle
on December 21, 2012, 17:11 GMT

I am backing England! The worst possible outcome for India would be to `whitewash' even this pitiful two-match series, leading to further arrogant comments by the BCCI and the Indian players. I would love it if by the time the English leave, they have nowhere left to hide.

Optic
on December 21, 2012, 16:52 GMT

Dernbach's playing days should be well over by now, he's rubbish and shouldn't have been picked here. I know there are a fair number of players missing but I do worry for bresnan since his injury and tbh his record in this form of the game is appalling even as a supposed all rounder. One thing is clear is Cook should be picked every time for this the guy can score runs easily quick enough, I know you don't want him to play too much cricket and it's a while to the next WC but he's 10x the player Lumb is & how did he get picked again he's not international class by a long way. At full strength I'd have this team Cook, Hales, KP, Wright, Morgan Buttler, Woakes Swann, Broad, Meaker, Finn , quite a bit different to the one playing & miles better.
It's got to be said Morgan's shot in the 1st t20 was appalling, as Captain and having just lost Hales 2 balls before, he should have known better & taken responsibility.

Nish_US
on December 21, 2012, 16:30 GMT

Raina, Yuvi, and Dhoni should stick only for T-20s and ODIs

And no Shehwag for tests, did you watch him stand in the slips.. never crouching and on the way up when the ball is bowled. Once he spilled couple of catches, he started crouching down.. but only for 2-3 overs and he is back standing upright.

If you back does not support it, then do not field at sllips

Nish_US
on December 21, 2012, 16:28 GMT

If Rohit is such a talent as touted and best suited for Tests, then give him a chance in the place of Jadeja, no point having a fourth spinner in the team.

Shehwag should make way for Rahane... and please do not waste Rahane's talent in T-20s...

No one should play both T-20s and TESTS <period>

Nish_US
on December 21, 2012, 16:26 GMT

Separate teams for TESTS and T-20/ODIs

SA tried G Smith as captain when he was 22 and he did not disappoint many... May be they can try Kohli or Pujara for TEST captaincy.

No point going to Gambhir or Shehwag

Nish_US
on December 21, 2012, 16:23 GMT

If India bats first, I think it will difficult to defend any score, with the kind of bowling lineup we have... whats up with all the short ball stuff from the new pace bowlers....

arvsingh
on December 21, 2012, 16:11 GMT

Time to replace Asswin with Bhuvneshwar Kumar. India does not need another spinner in T20 games with Yuvraj, Chawla, and Jadeja already there.

on December 21, 2012, 15:51 GMT

I hope Eng will bounce back but it will not be as easy as test matches were and Eng doesn't have quality bowlers to stop India's quality and in depth batting line!!

No featured comments at the moment.

on December 21, 2012, 15:51 GMT

I hope Eng will bounce back but it will not be as easy as test matches were and Eng doesn't have quality bowlers to stop India's quality and in depth batting line!!

arvsingh
on December 21, 2012, 16:11 GMT

Time to replace Asswin with Bhuvneshwar Kumar. India does not need another spinner in T20 games with Yuvraj, Chawla, and Jadeja already there.

Nish_US
on December 21, 2012, 16:23 GMT

If India bats first, I think it will difficult to defend any score, with the kind of bowling lineup we have... whats up with all the short ball stuff from the new pace bowlers....

Nish_US
on December 21, 2012, 16:26 GMT

Separate teams for TESTS and T-20/ODIs

SA tried G Smith as captain when he was 22 and he did not disappoint many... May be they can try Kohli or Pujara for TEST captaincy.

No point going to Gambhir or Shehwag

Nish_US
on December 21, 2012, 16:28 GMT

If Rohit is such a talent as touted and best suited for Tests, then give him a chance in the place of Jadeja, no point having a fourth spinner in the team.

Shehwag should make way for Rahane... and please do not waste Rahane's talent in T-20s...

No one should play both T-20s and TESTS <period>

Nish_US
on December 21, 2012, 16:30 GMT

Raina, Yuvi, and Dhoni should stick only for T-20s and ODIs

And no Shehwag for tests, did you watch him stand in the slips.. never crouching and on the way up when the ball is bowled. Once he spilled couple of catches, he started crouching down.. but only for 2-3 overs and he is back standing upright.

If you back does not support it, then do not field at sllips

Optic
on December 21, 2012, 16:52 GMT

Dernbach's playing days should be well over by now, he's rubbish and shouldn't have been picked here. I know there are a fair number of players missing but I do worry for bresnan since his injury and tbh his record in this form of the game is appalling even as a supposed all rounder. One thing is clear is Cook should be picked every time for this the guy can score runs easily quick enough, I know you don't want him to play too much cricket and it's a while to the next WC but he's 10x the player Lumb is & how did he get picked again he's not international class by a long way. At full strength I'd have this team Cook, Hales, KP, Wright, Morgan Buttler, Woakes Swann, Broad, Meaker, Finn , quite a bit different to the one playing & miles better.
It's got to be said Morgan's shot in the 1st t20 was appalling, as Captain and having just lost Hales 2 balls before, he should have known better & taken responsibility.

grizzle
on December 21, 2012, 17:11 GMT

I am backing England! The worst possible outcome for India would be to `whitewash' even this pitiful two-match series, leading to further arrogant comments by the BCCI and the Indian players. I would love it if by the time the English leave, they have nowhere left to hide.

QingdaoXI
on December 21, 2012, 17:14 GMT

India should Drop Gambhir and Jadeja and play Rayudu and Rohit. Rayudu can open in t-20. Team Rahane, Rayudu, Kohli, Yuvraj, Rohit, Raina, Dhoni, Ashwin, Chawla (Will be playing as he is the only leg-spinner in the squad otherwise Rahul Sharma is better than him or play Jadeja in his place), Dinda and Awana (He deserves 3-4 chances, as he is having great run in domestic matches).

on December 21, 2012, 17:15 GMT

"....In the middle period we failed to kick on and score.." because you have left out guys like KP who kick on and score